Burning Spear News

Ramsey Orta sentenced to four years in prison; statement from Ramsey's wife, Jessica Orta

Oct 11, 2016

Ramsey Orta has been ripped from his children and family after being imprisoned by the State. Free Ramsey! Free all political prisoners!

Ramsey Orta, 24, bravely filmed the police murder of Eric Garner in Staten Island on July 17, 2014. Eric was choked to death by murderous cop Daniel Pantaleo, with the backing of a gang of police. Murderous pig Pantaleo was placed on administrative leave and never charged for murdering Eric. Ramsey, on the other hand, was endlessly tormented and targeted by the occupying military force in retaliation for his actions of resistance.

Ramsey was sentenced to four years in prison on trumped-up charges.

Ramsey Orta is one of our newest political prisoners. He is in prison as a result of being targeted by the colonial State after making a political stance and standing up to police.

The Burning Spear stands in complete solidarity with brother Ramsey and are clear when we say that Africans and other colonized people have the right to resist our colonial oppression!

The following is a statement from Ramsey Orta's wife, Jessica Orta, to The Burning Spear newspaper:

As I sit here with thoughts swirling around in my head about the corrupt police system that we have and the hateful organizations they're modeled after, I cringe. That feeling of discomfort is something I have never been able to shake and it's all because I'm Black. Some people would call me a "race baiter" for making that claim before understanding my perspective, and those of so many like me. They would label me as uneducated, question my sexual history, attack my parenting skills and slander me online just for having the gall to speak up about my discomfort and share that feeling with them. They despise me for bringing to light that the perpetuation of a system that profits off of the backs of Black people is the same one that they are profiting from. That cringe.

Perhaps this is why many people quickly jump to any conclusion that allows them to be an apologist for agents of the State. When that decision is made we see the names of our fallen brothers and sisters dragged through the mud. We see people rushing to any reasoning that would excuse children being shot in the park or while sleeping, men being shot while shopping or even sitting in their cars. Time and time we see this decision being made, either consciously or subconsciously, and it results in the lack of educational investments in our communities, careers with equal pay for our people or even a neighborhood where they can wear a hoodie and walk down the street safely home.

I'm writing this today because I have woken up crying & holding my son as I realized I brought another Black male into this world to be subjected to the hatred-fueled, fear based racism and abusive, unchecked capitalism that could very well have me burying him instead of it being the other way around. Because I have been at work and lost the ability to answer to an all white board of directors that calls itself diverse because it met its minority quota by hiring white women. Because my husband was targeted, intimidated, threatened, set up and jailed as consequences for filming the NYPD murder Eric Garner.

I know there are those who are passionately contesting the narrative that Ramsey Orta is indeed in jail for filming the police by hanging on every word that police put out in opposition of Ramsey in the media. Unlike Eric Garner, Ramsey is fortunate enough to be alive and able to speak out in contradiction of the attempts to discredit him, even though no attacks on his character will ever excuse the fact that nobody has been arrested for the murder that was filmed. To me, this isn't unlike any other attacks against non-white people speaking out against agents of the State, because I'm sure if Eric Garner had been white we wouldn't be having this conversation at all. But Eric was Black.

So it's easy to forget the fact that police and correctional officers tried to poison Ramsey to death for all the trouble he caused with his video. It's easy to act like there was no lab test to confirm the presence of rat poison. Its easier to believe the people who wear the same badges of those who have always captured and imprisoned Black people. It's easy to call a murder justified and lock the person who filmed it in a box.

Africans have the right to resist!

This is the relationship that Africans have to the colonial State. This is our reality as colonial subjects. We are imprisoned for standing up to colonial oppression, while the murderous oppressor gets paid leave and raises. Our families are broken up as our brothers and sisters are mass incarcerated. Our children are left without fathers in their lives.

Eric Garner was murdered and Ramsey Orta imprisoned because the police function as an occupying military force within our communities. The police are an arm of the colonial State in place to protect the political and economic interests of the white ruling class at our expense. This is why The African People's Socialist Party demand in point eight of our 14-point platform:

"We want the immediate withdrawal of the U.S. police from our oppressed and exploited communities. We believe that the various U.S. police agencies which occupy our communities are arms of the U.S. colonialist state which is responsible for keeping our people enslaved and terrorized. We believe that the U.S. police agencies do not serve us, but instead represent the first line of U.S. defense against the just struggle of our people for peace, dignity, and socialist democracy. Therefore, we believe the U.S. police is an illegitimate standing army, a colonial army in the African community and must withdraw immediately from our community, to be replaced by our liberation forces whose struggles in defense of our community and against our oppression demonstrate their loyalty to our community and their willingness to serve in its interest."

In order to stop the countless police murders murders of Africans and unfair targeting of our people, we must get the pigs out of our communities!

We encourage our reader to visit RamseyOrta.info, the official site for updates concerning Ramsey and his well being while behind enemy lines. At RamseyOrta.info, you can receive updates regarding his specific needs, fundraising efforts, and any ongoing legal proceedings from appeals to lawsuits.

We also urge all freedom-loving peoples to send Ramsey Orta mail. His information is as follows: